It was never meant to be

Addie: Mommy, want me to read you a book?
Mommy: Yes please!
Addie: Ok. This is a book about Sleeping Beauty. Ready?
Mommy: Yep.
Addie: Once upon a time there lived a princess who ran away from her prince...

Addie's Sleeping Beauty Story

It went something like this...

Once 'pon a time dere lived a boo-tee-ful princess named Sleeping Beauty.  She wanted to wear a bee-eww dress but the only dress she could find was a pink one.  She put on a dress and it was pink but she wanted it to be bee-eww so she took it off.  She got anoder dress and put it on but it was pink too so she asked her fairies for a bee-eww dress.  They used dere magic to make her a bee-eww dress but when she put it on it was pink! 

And den her prince came.  His name was Pince Feet.  Pince Feet loved her very much and dey lived happily ever after. 

Dee End


Hmm....  Prince Feet, eh?  I suppose there are worse names to marry into.

Ellie's Sleeping Beauty Story

It went something like this...

Once upon a time there lived a beautiful princess named Sleeping Beauty. She wanted to wear a pretty dress for her wedding. She wanted her dress to be blue but the fairies kept saying "how about a pink dress instead?"

"No," she said. She wanted it to be blue. So the fairies made her a blue dress to try on, but just before she put it on, they used their magic to turn it to pink. When she looked down and saw it was a pink dress, she decided not to put it on.

Then the fairies tried to convince her that a pink dress would be better than a blue dress. Sleeping Beauty kept saying no.

Then her daddy came out. Her daddy was the king and he said he would like her dress to be pink too. Sleeping Beauty told her that she wanted it to be blue. "Can it please be blue?" she asked.

Then her mommy came out. "I have a pretty dress upstairs that you can use. You can wear it only one day but it is white."

"No," said Cinderella. She wanted her dress to be blue but she didn't know how to tell them this, but then her prince (his name was Prince Philippe) came to her rescue and took her away. She didn't have to choose a dress after all.

The End


Hmm... A princess eloping? Here is Ellie's Mommy, making a mental note to hold my tongue and my opinions when it comes to Ellie's wedding dress.

Ellie's First REAL Punishment

For her date with Daddy, Ellie went to the Denver Science Museum. They had a blast, all the way up until she attempted to steal a stuffed deer from the gift shop. Yes, our sweet Ellie tried to steal something!! Daddy gave her enough time to see if she'd think better of her plan, but they got all the way up to the door before he finally admitted he was on to her.

I'm told he kept his cool and did not get angry, but rather told her that he was terribly disappointed in her and would have to talk to Mommy about a consequence. Once they got home, it was very apparent that Ellie felt ashamed of her behavior.
She told me what she did, with great big tears in her eyes, and then informed me that she didn't want to talk about it anymore but needed to be alone for a while.

The following day we told her what her consequence would be.

Since she tried to steal the stuffed animal because she wanted yet another to add to the many many stuffed animals she already has at home... we decided to take them all away. We took every stuffed animal except for one and put them into a trash bag in our closet. She will be able to earn them back every time she fills up a line on her chore chart.

She was devastated but understood. At first she didn't hear that we had agreed to let her keep one, and she was terrified about the idea of giving up Bun Bun. Yes, after all these years, Bun Bun is still her most favorite. The first thing that came to her mind when faced with the idea of having **NO** stuffed toys to snuggle with, was Bun Bun.

In the end, she snuggled with Bun Bun as her one animal she got to keep. By the end of the day, she had already earned another animal back by filling up her chore chart.

What do you think? Too harsh? What would you have done?

Addie's Other House

She goes there often, apparently. It's lots of fun there and she has all the toys she could even want. She even has a pink unicorn and a waterfall in her bedroom, all "at my udder house." She even has a mommy with blonde hair at her other house. She says that her other mommy is lots of fun but sometimes she misses me so she comes back home. When I ask her where her other house is, she responds with "Um, it's a long far way from here." Well that makes sense. I mean, why have two houses that are close to each other? I asked her if her other house was by the ocean and she said no. Her other house was inside a church that was inside a castle. She thought that was pretty funny, but I gotta say, I'm jealous.

My Breast Friends

Mommy:  Who is your best friend, Addie?
Addie:  Bella!  But I also like Julia!
Mommy:  Do they make you laugh?
Addie:  Yeah, I love them.  They are my bweast fwiends!

I guess every girl needs her breast friends.  I can't say I disagree.

Addie's Magic

Addie: Mommy, look! I have magic!
Mommy: Where? Where is your magic?
Addie: (giggles) I don't know.
Mommy: Is it in your nose?
Addie: Noo....
Mommy: Is it in your ear?
Addie: Noo....
Mommy: Is it under your armpit?
Addie: (giggles) Nooo....
Mommy: Is it under your pillow?
Addie: No Mommy, it's in my smile! See? (BIGGEST smile EVER)

Priorities

This year both Michael and I are doing a lot of soul searching, for lack of a better term. We're giving a lot of consideration to what our Top 3 priorities are and then coming up with goals that align with those priorities. Let me tell you this, narrowing my priorities down to my TOP 3 was no easy task, but we managed to do so.

My top 3 priorities:
1. My little family of 4.
2. Financial health.
3. Helping others.

Michael's top 3 priorities:
1. His little family of 4.
2. Financial health.
3. His health/fitness.

On the car ride home last night...
Ellie: What did you do when we were gone?
Mommy: Daddy and I talked a lot about our priorities. We talked about how the most important things in our lives are the 4 people sitting in this car. What are the 3 most important things in your life?
Ellie: Caring & sharing, my family and me because that's the most special!
Mommy: Oh, those are all very important things. That's a great list. It's very similar to what Daddy and I said.
Ellie: (BIG smiles)

Of course, we have more detailed priority statements that go into WHY the above are at the top of the list. I will not share Michael's statements as they are personal to him, but here are mine:

Priority #1: Family
My #1 priority is my little family because they are my #1 source of joy. Worldly adventures with my husband bring me great joy, as does the sound of my children's laughter. I will be present and actively involved in the lives of my daughters and husband to ensure a happy, healthy and safe home where my children have confidence that their activities, personal development and security take precedent over my career or personal pursuits.

Priority #2: Financial Health
My #2 priority is financial independence because I want to be a role model to my children for how to earn, save AND enjoy financial health that gives us a quality of life that allows us to pursue other activities that make our hearts sing. I will help my husband to provide for our family to meet both immediate and future needs such as travel, education and financial freedom that all enhance our lives.

Priority #3: Helping Others
My #3 priority is helping others because doing so makes my heart sing. I will make the world a better place if an opportunity to do so arises. I will, to the best of my ability, help make people feel loved, appreciated and special. I will also remind them that the world is a beautiful place full of good people with big kind hearts.